1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates broadly to a frame for holding a picture assembly and to a hanger for hanging the picture assembly on a wall. More specifically, the invention pertains to an improved picture frame for eliminating breakage and/or warping of the picture assembly due to forces exerted thereon by the picture frame. The invention has particular utility in a picture frame of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank, Jr.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank, Jr. discloses an adjustable picture frame including a pair of interlocking frame members positioned on the back surface of a picture assembly at each of the four corners thereof. Each of the frame members includes a generally L-shaped, turned end for engaging a lateral edge of the picture assembly, and a resilient elongated body joined to the turned end to extend perpendicular to the edge of the picture assembly engaged by such end. The turned end is defined by an outer web joined generally perpendicularly to the resilient body, and an end flange joined at a right angle to the outer web to permit the lateral edge of the picture assembly, typically including a picture sandwiched between a transparent cover plate and a backing of paperboard, foamboard or the like, to be held between the end flange and the resilient body. A tensioned cord interconnects the four pairs of frame members to produce truss-like forces on the picture assembly for urging the components of the picture assembly together when hung upon a wall or other like support surface via the cord.
An adjustable picture frame of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank, Jr. possesses numerous structural and functional advantages over conventional picture frames. Conventional picture frames are formed from side pieces or channels cut from a strip of material to correspond to the length of each of the lateral sides of a picture and assembled therearound to continuously overlap the front surface of the picture adjacent its lateral edges. The side pieces must be accurately cut to match the size of a particular picture assembly and the assembled frame, therefore, can only be utilized with a single size picture assembly. Additionally, the side pieces are usually glued, nailed or otherwise permanently secured at their ends to surround the picture assembly, making it difficult to remove and replace pictures with conventional frames. Furthermore, the side pieces in conventional picture frames typically overlap, or cover, the front of the picture continuously along its lateral edges, and this overlap can be as much as several inches inward from the lateral edges of the picture. Conventional frames, therefore, reduce the viewable picture area and frequently require a mat or paperboard border to be placed around the lateral sides of the picture to permit the frame to overlap the mat and not the picture. The mat or border must be cut precisely in accordance with the dimensions of the picture, and cutting the mat and mounting it on the picture requires expertise that is generally possessed only by professional framers. The mat, moreover, adds labor and material costs to the framing procedure and necessitates a larger and, on a material basis, more costly, frame.
In contrast to conventional picture frames, an adjustable picture frame of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank, Jr., includes components that can be easily assembled on and removed from the corners of a picture assembly without any special skill or extraneous securing devices. The subject adjustable picture frame, moreover, is suitable for use on picture assemblies of diverse sizes and configurations, and the end flanges overlap the cover plate and, therefore, the front of the picture, only at discrete locations. Additionally, this overlap is relatively small to maximize the viewable picture area and, when the end flanges are fabricated from a transparent material, the entire picture can be seen. Furthermore, the adjustable picture frame as described herein does not require a mat or border, and can be mounted directly on a picture assembly without any customized sizing of components to obtain material and labor cost savings not found in conventional picture frames.
Although an adjustable picture frame of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank Jr. possesses many attributes, the forces exerted on the picture assembly by the frame members can cause breakage and/or warping of the cover plate if these forces exceed the strength limitations of the cover plate. The tensioned cord urges all four pairs of frame members toward a central point on the back of the picture assembly, and the resilient bodies are forced against the back surface of the picture assembly at locations considerably inward of the lateral edges of the picture assembly. The end flanges, on the other hand, are forced against the front of the picture assembly along their entire length directly adjacent the lateral edges of the cover plate, due to the end flanges being very short and extending over the cover plate only a short distance inward from the lateral edges. A net bending force, or torque, is thus exerted by the end flanges and resilient bodies acting in opposite directions at spaced locations on the picture assembly, resulting in a cantilever effect at the end flanges on the lateral edges of the cover plate. This continuously acting torque tends to bend the lateral edges of the cover plate rearwardly and, if the cover plate is fabricated of a relatively rigid material, such as glass, has the undesirable effect of causing the cover plate to break and shatter. If the cover plate is made from a relatively flexible material, such as plastic, this continuously acting torque has the equally undesirable effect of causing the cover plate to warp. Therefore, the tension induced in the cord must be carefully controlled to avoid exceeding the torque that may safely be applied to the picture assembly by the frame members. In practice, however, it is difficult for a consumer to know the torque limitations of a particular picture assembly when tensioning the cord and, while too great a tension in the cord may cause the cover plate to break or warp, too little tension may result in instability of the picture assembly and separation of the components of the picture assembly being held together by the frame.
Although a variety of picture frames have bent or turned flanges for engaging the edges of a picture assembly, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,261,123 to Mariotti; 3,981,091 to Wiener, Jr.; 3,529,374 to Spertus and 1,058,348 to Blumenthal, and in French patent 2,274,253, these turned flanges are utilized on conventional side pieces or channels extending continuously along the lateral sides of a picture held by the frame. The side pieces or channels do not exert a net bending force on the picture assembly that might break or warp the picture assembly cover plate and, accordingly, the cantilever effect is neither addressed nor even recognized in the exemplary picture frames.
A further drawback to a picture frame of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank, Jr. is that the tensioned cord is utilized to hang the assembled picture frame from a wall. When plastic sheet is employed for the cover plate, the weight of the picture assembly and frame being carried by the cord causes the cord to pull inwardly on the turned ends of the frame members an increased amount, and results in bowing of the plastic cover plate. An additional disadvantage of a picture frame of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,352 to Eubank, Jr., and one that is shared by virtually all types of picture frames that are hung from a wall or other vertical support surface by a cord attached to the back of the picture, involves falling of the picture from the wall in the event of cord detachment, breakage or the like. In addition to cords, other types of hanging devices securable on the back of a picture are susceptible to failure or detachment from the picture, and the inevitable result of these occurrences is falling of the picture from the wall. A picture falling from a hanging position on a wall to the floor is apt to contact the floor with great force, and breakage of the cover plate, if it is glass, and damage to the frame and the picture are typical consequences. Although numerous hanging devices for suspending a picture from a wall have been proposed, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,029,285 to Tendler; 3,981,091 to Wiener, Jr.; 3,884,443 to McMaster; 3,788,588 to Tendler and 1,269,382 to Butler, none of these hanging devices are utilized with frame members that exert forces on a picture assembly via a tensioned cord interconnecting the frame members, and none suggest a safety mechanism for preventing a picture from falling in the event that the hanging device fails.